In August 1975, I chanced to be listening to Capital Radio (a commercial station covering London, UK,) when they were announcing the winner of their Capital Poetry competition.
It was a different type of station in those days: they don't support the arts or innovation now. (They still play the Eagles, apparently, but only poxy "Hotel California", not their hard rock.)
DJ Michael Aspel was presenting the programme with Roger McGough, the famous Liverpool poet. I scrabbled to find a blank tape and point a microphone at the radio -- not many radiocassette machines in those days -- as soon as I heard who it was they were ringing at home! This is why there is a dreadful mains hum on my tape which makes the conversation difficult to decipher so please don't bother asking for copies. At one point there is also some crosstalk on the line from a pulse-dial telephone.
Yes, it was none other than the late Bob Calvert, Hawkwind front
man, somewhat taken by surprise.
We join the conversation as Mike Aspel is describing the award itself:
Mike Aspel: ...like an illuminated address, it's written out in beautiful handwriting and framed and all that.
Bob Calvert: Where's it gonna go then?
Mike Aspel: On your wall.
Bob Calvert: On my wall? Oh blimey, I'll have to make room for it. O.K. that's great. Thanks a lot! Now, about myself, I mean, I suppose you could call me, you see, by profession I'm a songwriter, actually.
Mike Aspel: Yes.
Bob Calvert: At the moment, but I consider myself a poet first, with a small 'p', not a capital 'P'.
Mike Aspel: (brightly) Ah, you're a capital poet!
Bob Calvert: No, I said with a small 'p'
Mike Aspel: (contritely) Sorry, sorry...
Bob Calvert: Yeah, but I must say that I'm very flattered; I mean I haven't had any books of poems published and this is the first sign of any real success that I've had with actual poetry, although with songs I've done quite well.
Mike Aspel: Well nobody hesitated here, it was a unanimous decision...
Bob Calvert: Oh that's great!
Mike Aspel: ...everybody, it's just an outstanding piece of work - Roger, would you like to confirm that?
Roger McGough: Well yes, well done Robert -
Bob Calvert: I think you said all that, thanks!
Roger McGough: I just read it - it is good - I hope you do something with it.
Bob Calvert: It's a lot different from writing songs, it's got to be...
Roger McGough: It's got to be tighter, hasn't it, really.
Bob Calvert: Yes, it's got to be much tighter, yeah, songs - you've written songs, haven't you?
Roger McGough: (laughs) sort of, yeah, -- (indecipherable)
Mike Aspel: Let's talk about the poem for a moment, Robert, it's obviously an autobiographical thing - do you travel around by tube a lot?
Bob Calvert: All the time - I'm the bloke that falls asleep on the Underground they call the 'sleeper' you know, always on the Underground, always on the Circle Line, going round... no, but it's the sort of thing, it's a little incident that happens quite often when you're travelling from one stop to the next, whereever...
GPO: CLICKS
Bob Calvert: ...I keep getting this click in my ear all the time
Mike Aspel: I know, I'm sorry - we're all getting that, you're not cracking up personally.
Bob Calvert: Everyone must notice this: a girl, a reasonably attractive girl, gets into the carriage and you start a kind of silent conversation with her, you know, you pretend you're not looking at her, she pretends she's not looking at you, and it uses this complex of reflections you get in an Underground train, which actually Adrian Henry wrote something very interesting about when he'd been to see the Robert Rauschenberg exhibition that was on a few years ago in London.
Mike Aspel: Well it's a very familiar situation and experience for all of us. Well, we have to get the programme off the air, I'm afraid, Robert, but again our congratulations from all of us here...
Bob Calvert: Thanks a lot!
Mike Aspel: And we'll be in touch, of course, with all the other details that need to be tidied up.
Bob Calvert: Great!
Mike Aspel: Thanks very much
Roger McGough: Cheers.
Mike Aspel: Bye-bye!
Bob Calvert: Bye-bye! (laughs disbelievingly)
Mike Aspel: And here's Christopher Rainbow to take us up...
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